Last 140 Machu Picchu tourists await evacuation

Foreign tourists walk on the train tracks while leaving the Machu Picchu archeological site in Cuzco, Peru Friday, Jan. 29, 2010. Peruvian authorities are hoping to evacuate the last tourists stranded after heavy rains and mudslides in Peru blocked the train route to Machu Picchu, but the Inca citadel is likely to stay closed for weeks even if the weather improves.(AP Photo/Martin Mejia)
— AP

Foreign tourists walk on the train tracks while leaving the Machu Picchu archeological site in Cuzco, Peru Friday, Jan. 29, 2010. Peruvian authorities are hoping to evacuate the last tourists stranded after heavy rains and mudslides in Peru blocked the train route to Machu Picchu, but the Inca citadel is likely to stay closed for weeks even if the weather improves.(AP Photo/Martin Mejia)
/ AP

"We had to eat what the locals gave us, out of communal pots," 34-year-old Argentine tourist Sandra Marcheiani said. "The last few days I've shared beds with other people."

Some 400 Americans were said to be among those stranded when train service initially stopped.

Karel Schultz, 46, of Niagara Falls, said before being flown out Thursday that most Americans paid for beds and bought their own food, while those who slept in the streets were typically Argentines and other South American backpackers.